5 Best Free Alternatives to Popular Programs

In our daily work with computers, we constantly deal with applications, which seem absolutely necessary. Many of these applications are supplied with operating system and became standard because of a lack of choice. Many of programs that we use every day are expensive or uncomfortable to use.
Fortunately, there are many of applications designed to replace expensive or inconvenient for users programs.
Here is my short review of free and open source software products that can replace several very popular programs such as Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoshop and some others.

The best free alternative to Microsoft Office

Microsoft Office is a great office software suite. It has been the de facto standard in office software for years. But this software is not perfect. It has many bugs and security problems. Moreover, it is very expensive.
Fortunately, there are many alternatives to Microsoft Office, and some of them are totally free. The most popular free alternative to Microsoft Office is an OpenOffice.org software suite, which is sponsored by Sun Microsystems.
OpenOffice.org provides you with a full set of office tools and has all the main features of Microsoft's application except e-mail client. It is compatible with Microsoft Office file formats, so it allows you to open files created in Microsoft Office, and create new files that Microsoft Office can open.
OpenOffice Writer is an excellent replacement for Microsoft Word, and even includes some features that Microsoft Word lacks. I think the most important Writer's unique feature is built-in PDF export.





In addition OpenOffice also includes Draw program that is significantly more powerful than basic object drawing within Microsoft Office.
Calc, Impress and Base are OpenOffice's applications that also compare very well to their Microsoft Office equivalents.

The best free alternative to Microsoft Outlook

Do you want to replace Outlook Express with free, easy to use and more secure application? I think Mozilla Thunderbird would be the right choice.
Mozilla Thunderbird is an open-source email client that, like Microsoft Outlook, manages all your email addresses and client information simply and easily.
It supports the IMAP protocol which allows you to manage of your e-mail from multiple locations. Moreover, it has smart filter ability, learning what you consider junk and either flagging or disposing of it for you.

GIMP - the best free alternative to Adobe Photoshop

GIMP (or GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a viable alternative to all popular commercial image editors, including Adobe Photoshop. It’s the ideal solution for anyone looking to retouch personal photos and remove-red eye.
Among GIMP features you find: powerful painting tools, multiple undo/redo, layers and channels support, editable text layers and numerous plug-ins, that allow users to extend GIMP functionality.

The best free alternative to Internet Explorer

If you have problems with Internet Explorer then Mozilla Firefox is an excellent free alternative. Actually, I think Firefox is one of the best web browsers and it’s definitely much better than Internet Explorer.
Firefox is faster, more secure and totally customizable web browser with great functionality. Among its features you can find: improved tabbed browsing, spell checking, session restore, Live Titles, integrated search, pop-up ad blocking, protection from spyware and much more. Functionality of Firefox can be extended with numerous extensions.

The best free security solution

No doubt antivirus software is necessary for the protection of your computer and your personal data. There are a lot of good commercial antivirus applications but if money is tight AVG Antivirus Free Edition is one of the best and free alternatives.





The only significant disadvantage of using free version of AVG Antivirus as the only antivirus on the computer is that it does not protect against spyware and adware. But it’s not a problem. There are several good and free antispyware programs.
I recommend using AVG together with such applications as Ad-Aware and Spybot Search & Destroy that is freely distributed and designed to protect from spyware and adware. The combination of Ad-Aware, Spybot Search & Destroy and AVG is the most effective solution to protect your pc against malicious software.

Internet Download Manager 5.12 - The Fastest Download Manager

The new version 5.12 of Internet Download Manager has been released recently.
It is very good download manager and accelerator. You can schedule, resume and accelerate your downloads with this popular software program.
According to the developers, Internet Download Manager allows you to increase the download speed by up to 5 times.
But the most useful feature of this download manager is its ability to recover and resume broken or interrupted downloads that occur due to network problems, lost connections, or computer shutdowns.
Internet Download Manager has simple and well design interface that allows you easily manage all your downloads.




The program supports firewalls, proxy servers, ftp and http protocols, cookies, handle file redirects, directories with authorization, and a large number of directory listing formats.
Internet Download Manager can be integrated with all popular web browsers, including Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, and Netscape.
There are many other features such as multilingual support, zip preview, HTTPS support, enhanced virus protection and so on.
In the new version of Internet Download Manager was added the ability to limit download speed. The latest version also includes several bug fixes.





I think that Internet Download Manager is a great tool to handle downloads. It is shareware. You may download 30-day trial version here.

XnView 1.92 – The Universal Graphic Viewer and Converter

The new version 1.92 of XnView has been released. It is free for non-commercial use and fast application for viewing and converting graphics files.
This program has well designed user interface, that is highly customizable.
By default window is divided into three areas: tree of folders, the contents of the selected folder (list or thumbnails of images), and the preview pane. Each of these panes can be easily hidden, using the special blue buttons, placed exactly on the separators.





XnView has advanced functionality. This program supports more than 400 file formats, a lot of operating systems and 44 languages (Windows only).
XnView provides a lot of useful tools for working with digital photos. It allows you to apply special effects and filters to your images.





The program can display pictures in slide show mode, generate simple hyperlinked thumbnail web pages, create TIFF and PDF files based on the selected images.
It also offers many other features, including screen capture, tools for converting, renaming and scanning images in batch mode, and more.
New features in the latest version of XnView including APNG read support, IPTC read support for RAW files, experimental Shadow/highlight function, the possibility to print selected area, improved batch processing of files. Errors of previous versions were fixed.
I think XnView is a must have software. According to many user reviews out there, it's application that handles well.
You can download the latest version of XnView from this page.

See also: IrfanView 4.10 - Full-featured Graphics Viewer

DAEMON Tools Lite 4.11 is available

The new version of DAEMON Tools Lite has been released recently. It is DAEMON Tools Lite version 4.11. DAEMON Tools Lite is free and well known application for cd/dvd-rom emulation. This program is able to emulate almost all known copy protections on the market today, allowing you to run backup copies of Laserlock, SafeDisc, CDCOPS, Securom, Protect CD and StarForce protected games.
DAEMON Tools allows you to create a virtual DVD-ROM drives. So you can mount and use nearly any CD and DVD images without the need for the physical disc.
DAEMON Tools supports all popular versions of Microsoft Windows including Windows XP and Windows Vista. It also supports more CD/DVD image types than any other optical disc emulation program.
The program has simple and well designed interface. It creates a small system tray icon that gives you quick access to all its commands. Here you can select the number of virtual drives that you want to have at your disposal and mount images for each of them. You can assign each virtual drive any letter of English alphabet which is not yet in use. There is also a capability to select the regional code for any created virtual drives. I want to note that mounting and unmounting of virtual drives occurs almost instantly and without the need to reboot.





The features of the DAEMON Tools can be extended with additional modules, which are produced by third-party developers.
Major improvements of the new version:

• included DT Panel with Internet search box and "Mount'n'Drive manager"
• DT tray behaviour changed to DT Pro style
• Languages are now changed more easily and more convenient
• Fixed several bugs

Before you begin to download this good and very useful application, I would like to warn you that DAEMON Tools Lite contains an optional adware toolbar. I recommend you deselect this option during installation.
You can download free version of DAEMON Tools from this page. (2.4 MB)

Spyware Doctor - The Best Spyware Protection

Spyware Doctor is a progressive spyware and adware removal utility that protects your PC from numerous threats such as trojans, spyware, adware, keyloggers and spybots.
This program is multi-award winning spyware program used by millions world wide.
Spyware Doctor has been awarded Editors' Choice, by many of the worlds leading PC magazines and testing laboratories such as PC Magazine, PC Pro, PC Plus, PC Choice, and others.
The trial version of Spyware Doctor provides time unlimited real-time protection, but without capability to remove treats detected during on-demand scans. If you want to obtain access to all features of this program you will need to buy it.
This program is easy to use due to its well-designed interface and optimal preconfigured settings. As soon as Spyware Doctor has been installed, it immediately provides the real-time protection without being overly intrusive.
The main status screen of the program provides immediate access to the main functions of Spyware Doctor. You can perform full system scan, activate or deactivate immunization feature and OnGuard (real-time) protection. The main status screen also allows you to see the current status of your Spyware Doctor installation.





The program can perform several types of scan to run on your computer. I found that even the Full Scan doesn’t take a lot of time. It is fast.





Spyware Doctor has a full set of controlling and monitoring features, such as OnGuard feature that monitors different parts of the system and blocks changes if required.





I think that full Spyware Doctor is one of the best anti-spyware applications. But if you don’t want to buy the registered version of Spyware Doctor, I recommend using the trial version of Spyware Doctor in conjunction with free version of Ad-Aware. Thus you will be able to obtain both the real-time protection (Spyware Doctor) and ability to remove treats detected during on-demand scans (Ad-Aware).
The current version of Spyware Doctor is Spyware Doctor 5.1.0.273 but there are also available the new beta version of this application (Spyware Doctor 5.5.0.176 Beta). Here links for download:

• Spyware Doctor 5.1.0.273
  
• Spyware Doctor 5.5.0.176 Beta
  

7-Zip 4.57 – The Final Release of Well Known Archiver

The long-term testing of 7-Zip archiver was completed. The final release of this popular archiver is available now. It is 7-Zip 4.57.
7-Zip is a free compression utility that allows you extract archive files of numerous archive formats, including ZIP, RAR, CAB, GZIP and TAR. 7-Zip supports packing of 7z, ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2 and TAR formats. It has its own incredibly efficient compression algorithm - 7z.
The program’s ability to compress files is amazing. The 7z archives that was created by 7-Zip are 30-70% smaller then their ZIP equivalents. And usually, 7-Zip compresses to ZIP format up to 10 percent better than most of other zip compatible programs.
7-Zip allows you to create self-extracting archives, and select the optimal compression level and password protection.





The program also has the powerful command line version which gives you access to all program functions through the command line.
The main interface of the program is simple and easy to use. The 7-Zip is integrated into shell and can be accessed from the context menu.





If you need an excellent compression utility and you don’t want to pay for it, I recommend you to try 7-Zip. I think it is the one of the best free archiver in the world.
You can download latest release of 7-Zip there. (0.8 MB)

Avast Antivirus 4.7.1098 – Keep Your PC Safe

Avast antivirus, one of the very popular antivirus software, has been updated yesterday to the version 4.7.1098.
This antivirus software provides the solid protection from viruses, spyware and other types of computer threats. Avast guards your computer and the network with multiple protective components that scan executables and files.
You can choose scanning parameters and set the appropriate sensitivity level for scanning e-mails, downloaded files, instant messages, and P2P hosts.
Avast offers you an adequate protection for POP3, SMTP and IMAP accounts.
One of the features on which I would want to focus attention is possibility to scan pc at boot time. It is very useful sometimes.
You will find that there are two different interfaces - one for the average user and one that is for the more advanced user. Avast has simple and customizable interface that is very easy to use.
There are two different versions of this antivirus: Avast Professional Edition and Avast Home Edition. The second one is the light and free version of the first one.
The latest update contains fixes to existing definitions and removal of false alarms.





I think that It is really good software with instant real time protection, regular updates, and much more.
You can download this software by clicking the following links:

• Avast Professional Edition (17.9 MB)
  
• Avast Home Edition (17.6 MB)
  

AnyDVD HD 6.3.0.0 – The Easy Way to Remove Copy Disc Protection

SlySoft Company has announced the release of the new version of AnyDVD HD. It is AnyDVD HD 6.3.0.0 – the universal utility for removing the copy disc protection from any dvd, hd or blu-ray disc. It fully supports HD-DVD and Blu-ray, including Decryption of HD-DVD and Blu-ray movie discs.
This utility works in background and watches for disc to be inserted. As soon as the disc is inserted, AnyDVD HD scans it and automatically removes the copy protection of DVD movie, allowing you then to backup the disc data using any DVD backup tool. It also removes any region code restriction, thereby allowing you to watch movies with non matching region codes with every DVD Player Software you like!
AnyDVD HD can remove all unwanted movie features such as non-skippable commercials, subtitles and prohibition messages. Just check in the settings things you don’t want to see, and you’re done.
But decryption is not all that AnyDVD HD offers. It can help you to control speed of your drive to reduce the noise level.
Program frees you from the necessity to buy new equipment with the HDCP support. It allows you to watch movies over a digital display connection on your pc.
Another additional unique special feature is the ability to remaster any commercial movie disc using simple XML scripts, which can replace files on the physical disc. With the help of this feature you can customize discs as you like without even making a copy to hard disk!
The new version has improved support of HD DVD and Blu-ray discs. The support for new copy protection was included. There are also some minor bug fixes.
I think AnyDVD HD is great utility and it is must have for almost everyone who plays DVDs movies on his pc.





The licence of this program is shareware. You can download the last version of AnyDVD HD by clicking on this link. (1.97 MB)

SeaMonkey 1.1.7 - Must Have Security Release

Yesterday, a new version of all-in-one internet suite was released by SeaMonkey project. It’s SeaMonkey 1.1.7. This freeware application includes a browser, e-mail client, IRC client and quite powerful html editor. Through close integration provided a better interaction between the components, and there is no need for additional expansions, though they are also supported. SeaMonkey is an attempt of independent developers to continue development of software package, known before as Mozilla Application Suite.
The new version of SeaMonkey closes several security vulnerabilities found in previous versions. Besides the security fixes, SeaMonkey 1.1.7 also corrects several other small problems. This update allows SeaMonkey to provide the same level of security as its sibling Firefox, which was also updated with the similar patches this week.
The team of SeaMonkey project urges users of previous SeaMonkey versions to upgrade.





You can download SeaMonkey 1.1.7 from the SeaMonkey Download & Releases page.

10 Best Firefox Extensions

Mozilla Firefox is regarded as one of the best internet browsers due to its numerous extensions that modify or add to existing browser functionality. These extensions or add-ons allow you to customize your Firefox to really make it yours. But there are so many available extensions that it is difficult to choose what is worth installing.
I have selected 10 of the best extensions recommended by web surfers and IT professionals. Let me know your own favorite add-ons in the comments at the bottom of the page.

Firefox Showcase

Firefox Showcase provides the ability to show all open windows and tabs as thumbnails in a variety of browser locations. It includes a find bar that will filter the thumbnails.
There are many customization options that allow you to choose how to display the thumbnails. No matter which option you select, once you do, clicking on one of thumbnails takes you to that tab or window. You can Shift or Ctrl click on any of the thumbnails to manually select more than one tab. After that you can close selected pages or other pages, duplicate or merge selected tabs in new window.
I love this extension because it saves me a lot of time when I am looking for necessary page among many others open pages.

Session Manager

Session Manager is a useful tool. It automatically saves and restores the state of all windows at startup and after crashes. But this is not all. With the help of this extension you can manually save and restore sessions.
This is very convenient, especially for those who usually visit the same sites every day. With this extension you can open the sites in separate tabs or/and windows, and then save the session under a name of your choosing. After that, every time you want to visit the sites in the saved session, all you need to do is pick your session in Session Manager’s menu and voila, all the tabs and windows open up just as you saved them.

Download Statusbar

Download Statusbar allows you to view and manage downloads from a compact toolbar, at the bottom of the browser window. Download Statusbar, in spite of its compact size, has some more useful features than the standard download window. The full mode interface auto-hides when not in use, allowing full control without interruption.

All-in-One Sidebar

All-in-One Sidebar is a wonderful extension that provides you easy access to your bookmarks, downloads, history, themes and extensions, and more.
Just Click on the left edge of your Firefox window to open the sidebar and get quick access to all your panels.

StumbleUpon

StumbleUpon is very popular tool for browsing, reviewing and sharing great sites with like-minded people. It learns what you like and what you don’t. And it provides you a way to find new great websites, videos and photos.

Piclens

Piclens immediately transforms your browser window into a full-screen slideshow adventure. With just one click, this Firefox extension makes images and photos be realized via an immersive presentation that goes beyond the borders of the ordinary Firefox browser window.

IE tab

This Firefox extension is useful for those web sites that work better with Internet Explorer. It places a small icon in your tool bar by clicking on which you can see a web page as Internet Explorer would display it, in the Firefox browser.

Foxy Tunes

Foxy Tunes allows you to control almost any media player through your browser. It also helps you find artists, lyrics, photos, and albums on the internet.

Answers

This extension promises to "instantly deliver the information you are looking for". Just hold the Alt key and click on any word. After that full results page from Answers.com will pop up in the window.

Wizz RSS News Reader

Wizz RSS News Reader is a good reader that supports OPML import and export. It also provides such features as a feed search, and filtering news entries on words or/and phrases.

Super Utilities v.7.75 – Make Your Computer Better

The new version of Super Utilities has been released recently. This Windows program is a collection of useful tools that will fix, clean up, maintain and speed up your operating system.
Super Utilities v.7.75 is suite of 27 tools. These tools are divided into five groups: System Cleaner, Security Doctor, Privacy Protecting, System Maintaining, and Special Utilities.
Super Utilities’s system cleaner features include such tools as Disk Cleaner, Registry Cleaner, Uninstall Plus, Memory Turbo and Shortcuts Repairer. All this tools allow you to clean up your system and perform routine maintenance tasks.





Security Doctor’s features contain such tools as Spyware Removal, StartUp Organizer, Security Service Manager, Security Task Manager, BHO Cleaner, and IE Password Manager. These features allow you to detect and remove adware, potential spyware, keyloggers, trojans, and tracking threats.
The privacy protector features of Super Utilities provide you with ability to hide your private information and keep it safe. This feature set includes such tools as Hiding Folders, Super EXE Locker, IE Privacy Manager, Tracking Washers, Super Shredder and Super Menu Guard.
Super Utilities offers several good maintenance tools that allow you to make back up of your system drivers, help you to manage file types and shell extensions.
Super Utilities has its own better version of Windows system information, which informs you of general information about your operating system and pc.
There are some other special utilities features that can make your work with computer easier and more efficient.





I think Super Utilities is really good program for every user who wants to keep his system stable, clean and optimized.
Super Utilities v.7.75 is shareware software developed by SuperLogix.net. You can download Super Utilities v.7.75 there. (5.2 MB)

Net Transport 2.51

The new version of Net Transport has been released. Net Transport (also called NetTransport or NetXfer) is a faster, popular and powerful downloading tool for Windows. This program supports almost all common Internet protocols, including: HTTP, HTTPS, FTP (through SSL), SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol), PNM (rename PNM to RTSP), RTSP (Real-Time Streaming Protocol), MMS (Microsoft Media Services), eMule, and BitTorrent.
If you looking for some program to locally save the streaming media, Net Transport is the right choice for you. It can download streaming media by multiple threads with excellent video and audio quality. But it is not only great stream-capture utility. Net Transport is also a good download manager with independently developed Enhanced Multi-Threading technology that allows maximizing the use of available network bandwidth.
In the new version was improved the work with BitTorrent and was added support for running schedule only once a week. There are some other minor improvements and bug fixes.
You can download or buy Net Transport 2.51 from official site. (3.2 MB)

Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.9 Review

Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.9 is a fast, full-featured and free Web browser from mozilla.org. It is absolutely independent from Windows components and Internet Explorer. Firefox contains a tab-browsing; pop-up blocking; a streamlined browser window that shows you more of the page than any other browser; integrated Google searching; simplified privacy controls that let you cover your tracks more effectively. It includes a great number of very useful and convenient features, such as Live Titles, which allows Web sites to stream updated data to your bookmarks, search engine suggestions, session restore, inline spell-checking and others that allows you to get the most out of your time online.
Firefox browser has very easy to use interface that is not overladen with buttons and links. Moreover, if you want to change the default interface, there are hundreds of nice themes to use. So you can easy to personalize Firefox to make it look the way you want.
As I’ve said above, Firefox has a tab-browsing. This feature allows you to open more than one web page in the same browser window and easily navigate between numerous web pages. Each browser tab has its own close button and support drag-and-drop technology that allows you organize your content the way you like. If you inadvertently close a tab, just press Ctrl+Shift+T or go to the History menu to reopen it from the list of “Recently Closed Tabs”. You can further speed up your browsing by using hot keys. There is an extension for voice interaction so you can surf the Internet by means of simple voice commands.
There are many security features. Firefox blocks annoying pop-ups. It provides you with protection against spyware and viruses. All the time Firefox keeps you in control of the web sites you are visiting. It will not permit a web site to run, install or download programs on your pc without your explicit consent. Firefox also can help you to keep your financial information safe and protect you from identity theft, informing you of site that is a suspected forgery.
You can clear your browsing history, cookies and other personal information, by the clicking of a button or pressing Ctr+Shift+Del.
The functionality of Firefox can be extended with a numerous add-ons.
Firefox is truly progressive, yet it's also very handy for everyday use. I think Mozilla Firefox is the best browser in the world.





This internet browser is absolutely free. You can download the current version of Mozilla Firefox (5.7 MB) on this page.

See also:
Thunderbird 2.0.0.9 Now Available

10 Best Firefox Extensions

Thunderbird 2.0.0.9 Now Available

Yesterday was announced the new version of Mozilla Thunderbird. It is Thunderbird 2.0.0.9. Mozilla Thunderbird is absolutely free and very popular e-mail client that offers its users many useful features in a clean interface. It contains the complete spectrum of necessary possibilities for work with e-mail. Thunderbird allows you an easy way to aggregate your online e-mail accounts locally, and provides an irresistible alternative to Windows Mail and Outlook Express. I like it, but I think it is best suited for experienced users.
The last update fixes several security vulnerabilities and about 40 performance and stability bugs. So this means the upgrade to the latest version should be performed as soon as possible. To update your version of Mozilla Thunderbird just select Check for Updates command in the Help menu and follow instructions.
It seems to work well and I was not able to identify any troubles thus far using it.





You can download the english version of Thunderbird 2.0.0.9 by clicking this link. (6.5 MB)

Undelete Plus 2.94

The new version of the Undelete Plus windows utility recently became available. Undelete Plus v2.94 allows its users to restore accidentally deleted files, files removed from the Recycle Bin, from a network drive, from Windows Explorer with the SHIFT key held down or files deleted in a DOS window.
Undelete Plus supports all Windows file systems for hard and floppy drives, including FAT12/16/32, NTFS/NTFS5 and restoration of an image from MultiMedia, CompactFlash, SmartMedia and Secure Digital cards. It also supports all versions of Windows OS from Windows 98 to Windows Vista.
It is important to know: the moment you find out, that vital files have been removed, you should prevent the deleted files from being rewritten. Therefore, avoid any use of a disk where the file has been deleted while files are not restored.





The new version of the program has small interface improvements.
Undelete Plus 2.94 is absolutely free for non-commercial use for now, but who knows how long that will last.
Download Undelete Plus 2.94 for free.(0.8 MB)

Ad-Aware 2007 – The Best Free Anti-Spyware Program

Surfing the Internet, you subject your computer to thousand various dangers. Each time when you switch on the computer and connect to internet, your system faces innumerable internet threats, including viruses, home-page hijackers, spyware attacks, trojan horses, and hackers trying to find their way into your system.
But it is very easy to protect your system from all this threats. I’ve found three great pieces of software – AVG antivirus, ZoneAlarm firewall and Ad-Aware anti-spyware tool – designed to protect you against threat that come your way. I use them myself, because they are powerful, they are free and very easy to use.
I’ve already reviewed AVG AntiVirus Free Edition and ZoneAlarm Firewall in previous posts. Well today I am going to tell you about Ad-Aware 2007.
Ad-Aware is anti-spyware program which provides protection from known Spyware including: trojans, malware, dialers, data-mining, aggressive advertising, scumware, parasites, and browser hijackers. And today it is one of the most popular and trusted anti-spyware software programs.
Ad-Aware 2007 has new easy to use interface. Navigation bar has six buttons (tabs).
Status tab allow you to view the status of the components that make up Ad-Aware 2007, statistics from your scans, and log files from your scans. It also can initiate system scan.





Scan tab allows you to choose the type of scan you would like to perform, manage your Quarantine and Ignore lists, and use the Scheduler to set up automatic scans and Web Updates.





Other main menu buttons include Ad-Watch, offering real-time protection but in the paid version. Web Update tab controls threat database and software updates. Tools and plug-ins are disabled in the free version, but the Tools and Plug-ins tab hosts TrackSweep. It is a privacy tool that allows you to remove all traces of your Internet browsing from your system.





The settings tab allows you to change Ad-Aware 2007’s settings to fit your individual needs.
Ad-Aware 2007 is fully functional adware remover, and it does its job well.
It is my favorite anti-spyware program. Get it a try.
You can download free Ad-Aware 2007 v7.0.2.5 from here (21 MB).

Clean Out Junk on Your System with CCleaner

You install and uninstall software, surf the internet and use different programs. Eventually all of this can lead to a system contamination by unused files and other crap, and slows down your system. Therefore it is a good practice to clean your system from time to time. There are many programs for this purpose. I recommend CCleaner because it’s free and really does clean out the crap that accumulates in your hard-drive.
CCleaner is a very good system optimization tool. It can find and remove temporary files, log files, browser URL history, cookies, and unused and old registry entries – allowing your system to run faster, and freeing up hard disk space. CCleaner includes registry backup feature. Therefore you can make a back-up file, before deleting anything from the registry. But the best part is that it's rather fast cleaner tool.
In fact I was reading today that a new version 2.02.525 of CCleaner has just been released. See the list of new features on the site http://www.ccleaner.com.





Get it a try. You can download Cleaner v2.02.525 here (2.6 MB).

The New Version of UltraISO

The new version 8.6.5.2140 of UltraISO recently became available. It is a program for creating, editing and converting CD/DVD image files.
By means of this utility you can edit ISO image files directly, extract necessary files from image, create images from CD/DVD drives or build a new one from files and folders on your hard disk. UltraISO can maintain bootable information and gives you the possibility to create your own bootable CD/DVDs. In addition, UltraISO supports nearly all known CD/DVD image file formats and can convert them to standard ISO format.
The new version of UltraISO is optimized for multi core processors. There are also some improvements and bug fixes.



In my opinion UltraISO has very easy to use interface and is one of the best programs from its family.
The license of UltraISO is Shareware. Its cost is $29.95. You can download it from this page and get a free trial before you buy.

New Version Total Commander Ultima Prime Came Out

Total Commander Ultima Prime 3.2 is the improved version of file manager Total Commander 7 which contains set of additional programs and plug-ins.
In the newest version was added new Artweaver. It is graphic editor that allows users to edit files using extended layers feature. New version of Total Commander Ultima Prime also contains updated versions of audioplayer AIMP, FileAnalyzer, Notepad++, Free Download Manager, Miranda IM, etc. The most of the plug-ins have been updated too.
In my opinion it is one of the most functional file manager and very good tool for every Windows user.




You can Download Total Commander Ultima Prime here (69 MB).

ZoneAlarm free firewall review

For home users, free firewalls may give you enough protection. The free version of ZoneAlarm is one of the best-known free firewalls. ZoneAlarm firewall is designed to protect your cable or DSL-connected computer against unauthorized access by hackers, hijackers and malicious software. It also blocks threats already on your pc from communicating with the malefactor or a third party so that hackers can't gain access to your computer or personal data.
The installation process for ZoneAlarm involves installing the software files, running the configuration wizard to set basic protection options, and viewing the Tutorial.
Main window of ZoneAlarm is shown below. It is the Control Center.



As you can see there is the menu on the left side of the Control Center. It presents main features of ZoneAlarm security software. The dashboard appears at the top of the Control Center. It provides constant access to basic security functions and indicators. From the status tab on the overview panel you can see a summary of ZoneAlarm security software's activity and update status of your version of ZoneAlarm.
From the preferences tab you can set general options for the display of the ZoneAlarm’s Control Center, change your ZoneAlarm password, manage updates, and configure privacy settings for communications with ZoneAlarm.



Firewall panel allows you to change security levels and make it easy to configure your firewall settings. You can set there a preconfigured security level to each Zone, or you can determine the protocol and port restrictions for each level.



The program control panel is very useful tool which lets you to assign program permissions manually or automatically when program advice is available.



ZoneAlarm’s alert and logging panel keep you aware of what's happening on your computer. And I want to say that it is working without being overly intrusive, and enable you to go back at any time to investigate past alerts.



I can say that ZoneAlarm is a very good firewall, it blocks any potential threat for your computer, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t things that could use improvement. I have noticed that it has some conflicts with P2P programs and blocks some things that I might want to actually let through. So I can say that P2P file sharing is nearly impossible with ZoneAlarm installed.
The best thing I can say about ZoneAlarm free firewall is that the firewall truly works wonders and it is totally free for personal use. You can download ZoneAlarm free firewall here.

Orbit Downloader v2.4.1 Now Available

The new version of Orbit Downloader was announced. Orbit Downloader v2.4.1 is the latest release of easy to use and fast download manager.
The list of main program features:

• possibility to download files from Youtube and Rapidshare services;
  
• downloading of Flash files and streaming media in an online mode;
  
• compatibility with browsers Internet Explorer, Firefox, Maxthon, Opera and Netscape;
  
• support HTTP, HTTPS; FTP, MMS, RTSP and RTMP protocols;
  
• automatic restoration in the case of failure during work of the program;
  
• support proxy server configuration and so on;
  
• 
  

The new version of Orbit Downloader has optimized algorithm of downloading, which allows to increase the speed of the program. So you can download files faster with the new version. I think it is a perfect tool for downloading files from file sharing services.

You can download Orbit Downloader v2.4.1 here (2,1 Mb)

AVG Free Edition antivirus review

Anti-Virus software is important for protection of your computer. This software keeps your computer alive while you surf the internet. There are many anti-virus software vendors in the market, some of them will provide you with free versions of their products. Free antivirus software may be the only option for people with the limited budget. Today we will consider features of one of the free antivirus solutions, which is named AVG Free Edition v7.5. AVG Free Edition is the very popular antivirus protection tool. It is available at no cost to home users for the life of the product.
AVG Free Edition is an anti-virus scanner that provides on demand scanner, resident file and email protection, and Virus Vault for safe treatment of infected files and automatic updates. The free version is limited in features, but it uses the same scanning engine as the commercial version and provides all basic scanning functionality as well as real-time protection. This anti-virus has been certified be effective at detecting 100% of in-the-wild viruses.
The first time you run AVG Free Edition, it checks for updates and creates a rescue diskette for recovery if a virus infection makes your computer non-bootable. Rescue diskette enables you to remove viruses or restore your operating system areas from the MS DOS environment.
The program has two main windows - Test Center and Control Center. AVG Control Center is the main console, which launches automatically upon Windows startup, and you can see its icon in the system tray. It lists all installed components, gives information on their status, and allows you to fully configure them. A panel for each module includes its description and current status, but you need to click to see the full text. You can check and update the virus database; configure on-access, context-menu and e-mail scans; and view quarantined viruses in the Virus Vault.



Test Center allows you to perform tests, update your AVG and edit some basic configurations. You can manually scan all your hard drives or scan only selected files. Virus scans can be automatically scheduled when you choose.



AVG Free Edition is integrated into system and can be accessible through the shortcut menu. You can select objects for fast check then to start their scanning. AVG supports many of the most popular email programs and scans all your incoming and outgoing emails. The big advantage of the program is low system resource requirements and high speed of operations, scanning of files and folders occurs very fast. Thus, process of revealing of viruses practically does not influence productivity of the operating system in any way.
AVG Free Edition does not offer protection from adware or spyware (though it is available in the paid version of the product). As with other free antivirus scanners, support options are limited to online help forums and knowledgebases.
I use AVG about six months and I have had no more virus problems, so take account of this review and make sure you always use an updated anti-virus software.
You can download AVG Free Edition 7.5 here. (29 MB)